Intolerance and Suspicion

Essential Question

How do attitudes towards immigrants, blacks and other minorities reflect the intolerance of the decade? How does nostalgia and attitudes from the past conflict with modern ideas of the decade? The attitudes that were shown towards blacks and other races besides the "superior race" reflect the intolerance of the decade because it shows the suspicion that the country had toward people it was not entirely comfortable with. This discomfort was caused by anarchists and the sayings of groups like the KKK. During this time, nostalgia collided with previous beliefs mainly in the form of religion. Modernism was arising, and to combat that, fundamentalism was created. Both of these debated the aspect of evolution, and gods involvement in the creation of the world.

Key Questions

Immigration Restrictions: Immigration restrictions of this time were caused by the lobbying of Nativists--people who sought to have the country have only native people--and other groups like the KKK. To calm the flow of immigrants into the country, congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924, despite Wilson's veto. This act effectively lessened the amount of immigrants from places all over Europe. Also, during the roaring twenties Nativism was especially strong. With groups like the American Protective Association, the country was obsessed with keeping traditional values more than ever. Ku Klux Klan: The KKK was a Nativist organization that was responding to the cultural changes of this time. In the 1920's, they were not the southern rednecks that many people today view the KKK to be, they were a more organized group working to keep "pure Americanism". That said, they still did believe in White Supremacy and disliked the African American race. Along with this, during the 20's the KKK was a lot more strict towards immigrants, and different religions, like the Catholics. This group was a perfect example of the intolerance of the age because they were not willing to accept all kinds of people, and wished to have the country be compromised of the native white people only. Red Scare and Palmer Raids: The Red Scare was caused by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. After this revolution, Americans were scared that an American Bolshevik Revolution was imminent, and that every aspect of society would be changing. This scare showed that Americans were truly afraid of something like this happening to them, and this fear would prevent us from getting involved in foreign affairs. The Palmer Raids were raids that were held to arrest anarchists in the United States, and these raids were led by A. Mitchell Palmer. The fear caused by these two things only adds to the intolerance of the nation because we were scared of the outcomes of letting more people in to our country. Sacco and Vanzetti Trial: This trial was a trial to decide whether these two Italian men were guilty of a murder that took place on Christmas Eve, 1919. The two men were known to have radical anarchist beliefs, and admitted so in the trial. The outcome of the trial favored the pursuing of justice instead of going after what the people think is wrong. This trial is an example of intolerance and suspicion because it shows that anarchists were all over the country, and could be committing crimes. Scopes Trial: The Scopes Trial was a trial discussing the prominence of evolution coexisting with religion. This trial is indicative towards the conflict of before the 20's and after the 20's because it shows the increasing modernism of the 20's.

Comparison: 1920's vs. Progressive/ WWI

Change and Continuity: In the Progressive and WW1 eras, there was much less concern for immigration, for most of the concern of the country was on the war. In addition, the worry for a revolution was almost nonexistent in these previous eras, for the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia was what spurred the Red Scare period. Much of the intolerance in the 1920's stemmed from events that occurred during the 20's, these being the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial and the Scopes Trial, and the expansion of the KKK. These things were cause for more intolerance throughout the country.

Vocab

Immigrant: Someone who newly resides in a different country. Anarchist: A person who believes in Anarchism.Communism: System of social organization, holding all property in common. Race: A group of persons related by a common heredity. Bolsheviks: Social Democratic party advocating immediate seizure of power. Fundamentalism: Created in reaction to modernism, holds reasoning based off of the bible and Christianity.Evolution: Any process of formation or growth.Quota: The part of a total that belongs to a district, state, group, etc.

PRimary SOurce (APparts)

The author of this source was likely someone that was part of the KKK and wanted to advertise the Labor Day activities. The place and time of this advertisement was on Labor Day, and it took place in a community park. This shows that the KKK was a large enough group in enough places to be able to hold activities in community areas. Prior knowledge of the KKK lets one know that they must've grown from what they used to be, for they are having celebrations with large amounts of people. The audience of this source is anyone that is a part of the KKK or is interested in joining in on their festivities. This advertisement was produced at this time in order to let the members know of the celebration taking place in honor of Labor Day. The big idea of this source is that during this time the KKK had grown to be much larger, and people from most communities across the globe were a part of it at this time.

Thinking like a Historian & Change And continuity

Connection to Today: The intolerance of this time was more intense than the intolerance nowadays. That said, our immigration policies of today have been shaped by the events that occurred during this era. Because of the KKK, the red scare and palmer raids, the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial and the Scopes Trial, our countries policies on immigration became more strict and this continued to today. Despite this things, there are some differences from then and now. In our country, anarchists are a lot less prominent and the KKK has been reduced to very little.Cause and Effect: Due to the occurrences dealing with intolerance in the 1920's, our society today has adapted some of those principles to our society today. Immigration policies were one aspect that changed during the 20's and has forever been remotely similar. Also, the influence of the KKK shaped how we view other races and religions, though we may be less discriminate now. Additionally, the anarchy and revolutions of this roaring period have given way to more precautions and higher intolerance of our country.

The big idea

The big idea of Intolerance and Suspicion is that there were many occurrences during the 1920's that spurred these suspicions, which led to intolerance. Whether it be the beliefs of the KKK, the Red Scare, or the Scopes Trial, all of these things shaped our views on foreign policy, religion, and immigration.